Gamers Who Give: Joe Klopchic
Joe Klopchic a long-time friend and supporter of Gamers Engaged, showing up year after year to participate in the annual Gauntlet charity tournament.
Joe is a software engineer and spreadsheet enthusiast who works at a startup and is a big fan of social deception games. He organizes the Hunter Burton Memorial, a nonprofit Magic event held annually in Texas, and has helped build large events and gaming experiences for over a decade.
Gamers Engaged is excited to feature Joe as a Gamer Who Gives.
Keep reading for our interview with Joe.
Joe with other tournament judges and team members at the 2025 Gauntlet
Why do you continue to support the Gauntlet year after year?
Gamers Engaged and The Gauntlet create a unique experience for me, that makes me feel very engaged with the community and like my fundraising is going to great causes.
If you've been to an event, what's your favorite Gauntlet memory?
My team has won the event a few times, but my favorite memory was the first year where a couple of friends and I were last-minute substitutions and learned the games the day before the event. It was a whirlwind 24 hours that showed me what Gamer's Engaged really meant.
Why are you a fan of Gamers Engaged?
Gamers Engaged is clearly Lyla's passion project, and means so much to her, and that translates to a ton of care and meaning for the events that it puts on. The causes it supports are hald-picked and mean a lot to our community.
What advice do you have for others that want to connect their passion for games with giving back to others?
I would tell people to find things they enjoy, enjoy them, and eventually opportunities to give back will materialize. There are so many amazing charities and causes out there, that it's difficult to go far without running into a wonderful cause worth supporting.
What's a great nonprofit you support that we should know about? Why?
I guess I can plug the Hunter Burton Memorial, a nonprofit I help run that focuses on gaming and mental health, particularly suicide prevention. We run an annual convention in North Texas featuring tabletop gaming, and a focus on trading card games.
What game are you currently playing that you can't stop? Why?
Currently I'm on a streak of teaching people The Gang, a cooperative poker game.
If you were an in-game character, what game and what role would you play?
I'm also currently playing a lot of Blood on the Clocktower, so I'll say that I'm the puzzlemaster.
What's your alignment?
I polled my friends and they think Neutral Good.
